What has the Blog World Taught You?

June 30, 2011

Good morning, friends!

Last night, the blog world came through big time for me. After dinner, I was starving, so I tweeted how I would kill for a piece of pizza. In my head, pizza was totally off-limits for me (gluten crust, dairy cheese), but then my Twitter friends came to the rescue with suggestions for gluten-free pizza dough and dairy-free cheese. I am now on a mission to eat pizza for lunch today! Thank goodness for the blog world! I don’t know where I’d be without it.

Another awesome idea that came out of that Twitter conversation was Cynthia‘s idea for gluten-free French toast, which I made this morning for breakfast. I used gluten-free bread, egg whites, almond milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. I also got a little crazy and added some maple syrup to the finish product. Oh my gosh, French toast never tasted so delicious!

Some of these diet changes might seem pretty obvious to you guys (Duh, just use gluten-free bread to make your French toast), but in my 31 years, I have never once thought about what I couldn’t eat. I guess some of these simple changes just never occured to me. I mean, up until about a month ago, I had a “stomach of steel” (which I often bragged about and then jinxed myself with Colitis), so I never had to think twice about what I consumed. Oh, how things have changed!

I’m not going to lie, I’ve felt pretty trapped with regard to what I can eat. Until I get better, gluten, dairy, fibrous fruits and veggies, beans, lentils, caffeine, spicy foods, nuts, seeds, and sugar are all ixed from my diet. Looking at that list, I felt like I couldn’t eat anything. I kept focusing on what I couldn’t eat, but the blog world has opened my eyes to what I can eat. In just a few days, I’ve received countless food and product suggestions, intestine-friendly recipes, and cookbook recommendations. It’s been amazing. When it comes to food, the blog world never falls short!

Three Questions Thursday

I’ve recently gotten into running and I’m training for my first half marathon. I know you mentioned in a earlier post that your blogroll has shifted from being food focused to more running and fitness focused. Could you recommend your motivators or do a post on your favorite running blogs?

On your site you said that when you’re trying to lose weight you eat between 1800-2200 calories per day. I wanted to know how that works for you?? Haha, what I mean is that all the sites I’ve looked at tell me that I should be eating 1200-1400 calories a day, which I generally stick to and I workout 6 days a week for at least an hour. Yet still I only lose about a pound every three weeks. I know you’re not a dietitian but I thought I’d ask!

A lot of people are usually surprised when they hear that when I was trying to lose weight, I typically consumed 1,800 to 2,200 calories each day. This might sound like a lot of calories, compared to some of the 1,200-calorie plans you hear about, but making changes to my diet wasn’t a short-term plan just to shed pounds. The healthy habits that I developed during this time were permanent lifestyle changes, so I knew that drastically reducing my daily calorie count would leave me hungry””and miserable.

I love to eat, but I wanted to lose weight, too, which meant I needed to figure out how many calories would satisfy me, but at the same time help me consistently lose weight week after week. I had no idea how many calories I should consume. I knew I needed to reduce my calorie intake, but I didn’t know by how much or where to start. I also wanted to find a realistic daily caloric goal that I could live with every day. I used an online calculator, which recommended how many calories to aim for each day.

Once I had an idea how much I should eat each day, I began to measure my portions and record what I ate using a free online weight-loss tool. After tracking my calories for a few days, I was shocked to discover that I consumed close to 3,000 calories each day! No wonder I gained weight! Clearly, my body didn’t need so many calories. I guess I wasn’t totally surprised””I mean, I was drinking beer and eating nachos multiple times per week””but the numbers laid it all out there in black and white. There were no questions about it. I needed to consume fewer calories and exercise more if I wanted to lose weight.

When I reduced my daily amount to 1,800 to 2,200 calories and started to exercise more frequently, the weight came off””slowly, but surely. It took me a solid year to lose a little more than 20 pounds, but I’ve maintained my weight for nearly seven years now. I no longer track my calories on a daily basis, but I continue to consume around the same amount each day. (I tracked calories religiously for a few years, so I have a pretty good idea what this range looks like!) Of course, there are the occasional days that fall outside my 1,800 to 2,200 range, but losing weight and maintaining it is all about consistency.

How much do you spend on groceries?

On average, Mal and I spend around $300 per month on groceries. Our budget is $75 per week and we almost always stick to it. Of course, there are weeks that we go over budget, but it’s usually because we’re having friends over for dinner or buying beer.

If you want to see exactly how I save money at the grocery store, check out my 5-part Grocery Shopping 101 series.

Question of the Day

What’s the single most important thing that the blog world has taught you?

109 Comments

The blog world has taught me that it’s O.K. to not be perfect.
AND that I CAN start my own blog without worrying about whether anyone will read it or not. It’s my own personal journal of food.
Love it 😛

[…] or fitness blog: When I’d rather eat nachos for dinner than have a healthy meal, I read some of my favorite blogs for inspiration. I almost always find a recipe or a few words of advice that make me want to change […]